You pre-register months in advance, order tickets online weeks in advance, and stand in line for hours for the chance to be in the first audience to see a much-buzzed-about movie at the Sundance Film Festival.

Too bad you're not really the first audience to see it.

As The Hollywood Reporter's Steven Zeitchik wrote in today's edition of the industry trade paper, many prospective buyers have probably watched the movie - through bootlegged DVDs.

Some of the Sundance '09 titles reportedly making the rounds: "Paper Heart," the semi-documentary romance starring Michael Cera; "Shrink," a drama starring Kevin Spacey (pictured); the immigration drama "Amreeka"'; and Bobcat Goldthwait's comedy "World's Greatest Dad," starring Robin Williams.

Like anything in Hollywood, bootlegged screeners are a tradeable commodity and a sign of status. You're not somebody unless you've already seen what everybody else is dying to see.

But the people selling the movies at Sundance are sounding the alarms about this underground trade.

"There are films where it could virtually kill the market for a movie," Cinetic Media chief John Sloss told Zeitchik. "From our perspective, this is war, and you're at your peril if you don't treat it that way."

Labels: Distribution